HeyWire Canada has been launched as the very first iOS texting app to provide a Canadian phone number for unlimited texting, real SMS, to any mobile phone in Canada and 45 countries.

Using a Canadian phone number, users -- residents of Canada, traveling, or living abroad -- can connect with friends and family in Canada as well as in 45 countries, including the U.S., Mexico, China, and countries within the Caribbean, South and Central America, thanks to HeyWire Canada’s texting alternative.

To use this service, users have to make sure that their iPhone (News - Alert), iPod touch or iPad has access to a 3G mobile data service or Wi-Fi. They can download HeyWire Canada from the iTunes App Store Social Networking category for free. Company officials said that users can start using the service by completing registration and purchasing a Canadian phone number.

Company officials said that HeyWire Canada breaks down borders since it offers unlimited texting to any mobile phone in Canada and 45 countries. The receiver of the text message won’t be charged extra to text back or receive texts.

Moreover, HeyWire also serves as a smartphone messenger, allowing users to text any HeyWire user worldwide. Company officials said that HeyWire Canada is available in both English and French.

“HeyWire is all about making it easy for our users to stay connected, so we're psyched to offer HeyWire Canada for unlimited texting from a Canadian number,” said Meredith Flynn-Ripley (News - Alert), CEO at HeyWire.

Flynn-Ripley said that whether a user lives in Canada or are one of the 2.7 million Canadians living abroad, consumers can now have a much easier way to keep in touch with people down the street and around the world on any device.

HeyWire is a Social Messaging Hub that connects consumers in over 45 countries around the world for free through text messaging, Twitter and top IMs -- like Facebook chat and Google Talk on virtually any Internet connected device.

Earlier in May, MediaFriends, the company behind HeyWire, announced that users with an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Android (News - Alert) phone who require a free, easy way to stay connected with friends and family will benefit from HeyWire Social Messaging Hub.

Anshu Shrivastava is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anshu’s articles, please visit her columnist page.